Japan Makes It Illegal to Damage Its National Flag

Japan's national lawmakers voted on Friday to make it a crime to damage, destroy, or deface the country's flag. The new law was pushed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative leader who wants Japan to feel stronger national pride. People who break the law could go to prison for up to two years or pay a fine of about $1,200. Many people in Japan support the law, but others say it goes too far and limits people's right to speak out.

Prime Minister Takaichi has long argued that Japan's flag laws were unfair. In Japan, it was already a crime to damage a foreign country's flag, but there was no law against damaging Japan's own flag. She said that did not make sense. "You might face imprisonment for defacing or tearing a foreign flag, yet you can treat the Japanese flag however you please," she said earlier this year.

Ms. Takaichi won her election last year by calling for a more proud and powerful Japan. She belongs to a group of right-wing politicians who believe Japan has spent too many decades saying sorry for actions taken during World War II. They want Japan to feel more confident about its identity as a nation. This new flag law is one of the key goals she has tried to achieve as prime minister.

Japan's flag is called the hinomaru, which means "circle of the sun." It shows a red circle on a white background. The flag has long been treated with great respect in Japan. Government officials are expected to bow to the flag when they walk into or out of a room. Unlike Germany and Italy — countries that were also on the losing side in World War II — Japan never changed its flag after the war ended.

The new law says it is a crime to damage the flag in ways that cause "strong discomfort or disgust" in others. Lawmakers gave examples of what that might look like, such as burning the flag, stepping on it, or getting it dirty in a nasty way. However, there may be some exceptions. Lawmakers said that tiny flags used as decorations in children's meals, or images of the flag in anime, manga, and video games, would likely not be covered by the law.

Many people are upset about the new law. Opposition lawmakers, professors, newspapers, artists, and human rights groups all spoke out against it. Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, said the law would not actually make people love the flag more. Instead, he said, people might become afraid to even touch the flag in case they accidentally broke the law.

A well-known Tokyo newspaper called the Tokyo Shimbun warned that the law was similar to old rules from before World War II that made it illegal to criticize Japan's royal family. The newspaper said forcing people to be patriotic through fear of punishment goes against the Japanese Constitution, which protects freedom of thought. Human Rights Watch, a global group that watches out for people's rights, also called on Japan to get rid of the law. They said it could become a tool used to silence protesters.

Other countries also have laws against flag desecration. France, Germany, Italy, and India all have penalties for damaging their national flags. In the United States, the law is different — burning the American flag is protected under the First Amendment, which guarantees free speech. Japan's new law puts it more in line with the European and South Asian countries that do restrict flag damage.

The law was supported by four political parties in Japan's parliament, which is called the Diet. One strong supporter was Sanseito, a far-right party that has grown in popularity over the past year. A Sanseito lawmaker named Mizuho Umemura said the Japanese public had waited too long for this protection. "The right to freedom of expression must also be balanced against the sentiments of the many citizens who cherish the national flag," she said in a speech on the floor of Parliament.

On the same day, Japan's parliament also passed a separate bill about the royal family. That bill would allow the imperial family to bring in distant male relatives to help keep the royal line going. However, critics argued that it would be better to simply allow women to become emperor, which polls show many Japanese people support. Ms. Takaichi, who is herself the first woman to serve as prime minister, said the bill was needed to protect a male-only tradition for emperors.